The importance of schools in driving children's ' s applications for disability benefits

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Levere, Michael; Hemmeter, Jeffrey; Wittenburg, David
• 署名单位: Westat
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2024.105239
• 发表日期: 2024
• 关键词: supplemental security income; disability; Covid-19; schools; youth

摘要

We explore how schools affect children's applications to Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools varied in offering virtual or in-person learning during the 2020-21 school year. We use this variation to better understand the way schools, potentially through teacher referrals and informal networks, influence SSI applications. We find that applications were nearly 20 percent lower in counties with virtual learning relative to counties where all learning was in-person. Subgroup analysis suggests that school staff, likely through offering identification and referral services, and informal networks were mechanisms contributing to these differentials.